Christie radiographer from India sacked for speaking poor English

Ramani Ramaswamy was dismissed from his job and has been suspended from the national radiography register for a year after a string of complaints against him, including being unable to communicate with colleagues and patients.

An Indian radiographer who worked at The Christie cancer hospital for six years has been sacked – after it emerged he could not speak clear English.

Ramani Ramaswamy was dismissed from his job and has been suspended from the national radiography register for a year after a string of complaints against him, including being unable to communicate with colleagues and patients.

The Health and Care Professions Council found that Mr Ramaswamy had showed a ‘lack of competence’ in a number of areas while working at The Christie.

The panel heard that he was unable to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues, who had difficulty understanding him.

He had extra English lessons after being employed at the Christie – but managers said it appeared that his command of the language seemed to get worse, rather than improve.

The radiographer, who lives in Moss Side, was also blasted for failing to demonstrate competent handling of equipment – and setting up a bed so badly that his supervisor had to step in to stop a patient being injured.

The panel also found he had asked a patient to confirm their identity four times before colleagues intervened because the patient could not understand what he was saying.

It also heard that his supervisor could not understand what he was saying despite him repeating his question a number of times.

Mr Ramaswamy also failed to consistently ask patients to empty their bladders before procedures were carried out.

A senior colleague described his practice as being ‘a bit of a hit or a miss’ and he often read out numbers incorrectly.

The committee heard that Mr Ramaswamy was recruited from India as an experienced radiographer and started work in August 2005.

Because of concerns over his communication skills, he was at first restricted to a role where he had no contact with patients.

He was moved on to the treatment floor in September 2009 for a three-month trial but this proved unsuccessful.

He was then closely-monitored and an improvement plan was put in place. In June last year, his performance was rated as ‘unacceptable’ in every area.

He was suspended and dismissed after a hearing in August last year and he has now been struck off for a year.

The panel’s report said: “On one occasion, a patient had become distressed.

“His communication skills, even after six years at the trust, were poor and he was recorded as keeping his communication with patients to a minimum and to be difficult to understand.

“The deficiencies identified by the panel have the potential to cause serious harm to patients.”

Mr Ramaswamy told the M.E.N. that the sanctions were unfair and the allegations had been ‘cooked up’.

He said he had now retired and was not looking for work, adding: “It’s totally ridiculous. I previously worked in Malaysia and I was very well respected.

“The Christie said there were communication problems but I speak good English. I may be a little reserved.”

When asked about failing to ask patients to empty their bladders before starting treatment he said: “Maybe I missed it for one patient. I’ve never done any harm to the patients.”

A spokesman for The Christie said that no treatments were affected and no patients were put at risk by Mr Ramaswamy.

He added: “He spent the vast majority of his time in treatment planning which involves no contact with patients.

“We are satisfied that our systems and processes have enabled us to identify this problem and deal with it appropriately.

“Over a period of time Mr Ramaswamy could not consistently meet the competency standards that we require and never worked unsupervised. He spent the vast majority of his time in treatment planning which involves no contact with patients. All patient treatments undergo a rigorous process which includes two independent checks before delivery.

“At The Christie we work to the very highest standards, we are regularly inspected by a number of external agencies to check this including the Care Quality Commission, the National Cancer Action Team and the Health Protection Agency, all of whom independently assess our services as safe.

“It was our diligence that identified the lack of competency demonstrated by Mr Ramaswamy and we dismissed him in August 2011 and reported him to the Health and Care Professions Council in order to protect other patients that may be treated by him in the future. Our staff gave evidence at the disciplinary hearing that suspended him.

“We want to reassure all patients and their relatives that the care and safety of our patients is of the utmost importance to us and we are satisfied that our systems and processes have enabled us to identify this problem and deal with it appropriately.”

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